WOW...is all I have to say! Good for him...I think this was something he really wanted. I do wonder how they pulled it off because this is a huge coup for them to have kept this under wraps. I am now fearing for his safety and the others around him though...this exposed can't be the best thing, I mean this just exploded today!

The Ministry of Defence today confirmed after reports appeared on a US website that Prince Harry has been serving with the British Army in Afghanistan for more than two months.
Clarence House issued the following statement:
"Prince Harry is very proud to serve his country on operations alongside his fellow soldiers and to do the job he has been trained for."

__________________´We will all have to account for our actions to our children and grand-children, and if we don´t get this right, how will they ever forgive us?´Prince Charles in a speech, 6th December 2006

I'm disappointed that they leaked the story while he's still there, because I'm afraid that it might put him or others in danger. But I'm glad he's there, I think he's always wanted to go, and it's just a good thing to do.

But it's increased their profits. And if he gets killed or kidnapped as a result, it'll increase their profits some more. From their point of view, it's a win-win situation.

If anything happens to Harry or any of the troops because of the leak, lets hope the public do a 'Diana' and demonstrate in the streets wherever this Drudge person lives.
----------- ------------------
Britain is reviewing Prince Harry's presence in Afghanistan, where he has been deployed with the army for 2-1/2 months, following leaks in the international media that he was deployed there, the Defence Ministry said.

I can't believe Matt Drudge was the one to break this story! That's a shocker...why leak it to him now...supposedly many editors knew about this but kept mum. Why now...that's the question...

The ultimate 'scoop'!

A responsible journalist would never have done this. To put it bluntly, you don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg. As for the interviews with Harry? I'm guessing they were a trade-off with the media for anonymity.

On a lighter note, I knew he had to be in Afghanistan. I mean no sightings, not one? There are journos who stake out the international airports, so it was a given that he hadn't left the country that way. It just screamed "military transport". It is also comforting to know that this is the last 'scoop' for the yellow press. They do not inhabit the front line!

I feel such pride in my Royal Family. Harry for earning the right to go, and QEII for allowing it. That must have been hard for her, but she would do no less for her grandson than she already had for her son.

As an aside, how hard was this for Chelsey? Was their split an incredibly sucessful "red herring"?

__________________MARG"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are assaults of thoughts on the unthinking." - JM Keynes

Do you think it was such a secret on the spot, though? I mean, presumably other soldiers and any local people associated with the army will already know, and presumably if the Taliban spies are any good, they also already know. The main difference is that we know too now. I hope they don't decide to bring him back to the UK now - the press already has too much influence over what happens with the royal family, and that would just confirm the idea that the press calls the shots where the royals are concerned.

Having a brother who has served in Iraq, and who is on his way to Afghanistan as we speak, these are some seriously evocative photos. Evocative in that, I am incredibly proud of my brother, and I am incredibly proud of Harry. These photos show that he is just another soldier doing his duty.

I can't explain it, but these photos, and especially the second one, just tug at my heart. It a heart wrenching photo simply because you know that he must be exhausted, terrified and proud and it all shows in that one picture. Its heartwrencching becuase it all shows, and yet he has a gun in clear view. It proves that no matter how he feels, he's there to do what he must and protect himself, his troops, and the idea of democracy.

Forget the media. They are useless. Instead, let's put out energy into doing whatever it is you do to wish these men and women the best. Be it that you pray, fast, cry or anything else, the best thing that we can do is support these men and women. The war that they are fighting might not be a popular one, but they are fighting a war none the less, and Harry is right there in the thick of it, trying to ensure democracy in a place that might very well not be ready for it, and the thanks that they all get is to be ridiculed and abandoned by the worlds media? Forget them, and focus on the people who can use our support.

Freedom of speech? The right to express your feelings without the need to fear for repercussions? Quite the democratic thing, IMHO.

As for the media having the right to publish everything they want in a democracy, that is not the case. All democratic countries have laws about the rights of the media and while these are protected (here in Germany even as constitutional rights in our constitution) there are rules which have to be obeyed and rules which any serious journalist will obey because it's the right thing to do.

IMHO the world would have survived without knowing where prince Harry has spent these last weeks. While it is a newsworthy information, it is not a necessary information. So the publishers should have weighted the consequences for the prince and his fellow soldiers against the world's right of information and decided to keep quiet. As most did till the news actually broke. Skydragon is right: those who published that information sit comfortably and peaceful at home while others are facing the consequences. Shame on them!

But IMHO the RF should have discouraged Harry from becoming a soldier in this day and age - he can't be like anyone else and the consequences are dire for all concerned.

__________________'To dare is to lose one step for but a moment, not to dare is to lose oneself forever' - Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark in a letter to Miss Mary Donaldson as stated by them on their official engagement interview.

Freedom of speech? The right to express your feelings without the need to fear for repercussions? Quite the democratic thing, IMHO.

As for the media having the right to publish everything they want in a democracy, that is not the case. All democratic countries have laws about the rights of the media and while these are protected (here in Germany even as constitutional rights in our constitution) there are rules which have to be obeyed and rules which any serious journalist will obey because it's the right thing to do.

IMHO the world would have survived without knowing where prince Harry has spent these last weeks. While it is a newsworthy information, it is not a necessary information. So the publishers should have weighted the consequences for the prince and his fellow soldiers against the world's right of information and decided to keep quiet. As most did till the news actually broke. Skydragon is right: those who published that information sit comfortably and peaceful at home while others are facing the consequences. Shame on them!

But IMHO the RF should have discouraged Harry from becoming a soldier in this day and age - he can't be like anyone else and the consequences are dire for all concerned.

I don't think that they should have discouraged him. If that is something tha the really wanted to do, then I think that he should have the right to do it, just like any other free citizen. And he is fighting for the freedom of others, which I think is oddly poetic. Despite being a Prince, he still has all of the rights as any normal free citizen.

Furthermore, it's a tradition in his family, and perhaps he holds those traditions in high regard? He seems suited to a military life. He seems happy, and he has a right to be happy and to have a career of his choice.